Fallen Angel
by Queen Zombie Hunter
Summary: A survivor of the Raccoon City incident and an employee of Umbrella, Maria Winchester must deal with the memories of her experiences as she is drawn into dark side of the company.
1. Intro

Raccoon City, 1998. A string of incidents leads to an outbreak of the T-virus in the Arklay Mountains. Over the course of several months, the city and its outlying areas experience a series of gruesome murders, later revealed as zombie attacks. By the end of September, the city is overrun. On the first of October, the city is "sterilized" to prevent the spread of the virus. However, some survivors did manage to escape.

One such survivor was Maria Winchester, an aspiring makeup artist working as a paralegal in an Umbrella office building inside the city. Her survival, along with that of her friends, consisted not of fortune, but of preparation. Drawn together by their mutual interest in zombie movies, they knew when and how to travel. An affinity for weapons shared by many of the members meant that they had weapons and the training to use them. Having worked together for years, cooperation came easy. However, even with this, the odds were still against them, and there were losses.

After managing to escape Raccoon City shortly before its destruction, along with a few others, they found themselves homeless and without income. Umbrella, eager for an opportunity for good PR, offers to hire Maria and her friends, who accept for the promise of stability. However, the stability this provides is but an illusion. External pressures cause a perpetual uncertainty as to whether they will have a job the next day and lingering suspicion against Umbrella and its employees makes it hard for them to find outside work. With no other choice, they put up with the insecurity.

Six months later…

* * *

Author's Notes: As far as the canon of the story goes, 0-CV will be completely canon, while 4 is mostly canon, 5 is partly canon and 6 isn't canon in the slightest. UC & DC will pretty much be ignored, as will the rest of the side games. That may or may not matter. I haven't quite decided how much I want to bring this story into the main universe.

Also, updates probably won't be that frequent. It's pretty much just something I work on when I'm bored.


	2. Chapter 1: An Obvious Idea

April 5th, 1999

Umbrella Temporary Employee Quarters  
Portland, Oregon.  
5:45 a.m.

Maria groaned as the alarm went off. She looked over at the clock as she sat up. She'd been asleep for a little over four hours. An hour more than last night. She rubbed her eyes and looked around the room blearily, trying to remember if she had any clean clothes. Getting up, she walked over to what passed for the kitchen: a microwave, a mini fridge, a small sink and, her goal, a coffee pot. She smiled when she saw that there was coffee in it, even though she knew it was at least 12 hours old, her coffee-making roommate working night shifts. She grabbed her cup and lid from the sink and filled it. Trudging through her morning routine, she downed it, refilling it with the last of the coffee before grabbing her small bag and leaving.

She jogged to the employee bus station, where the company bus would pick up people on her shift and drop off the people from the previous shift. Or at least the temporary workers. She didn't particularly need to hurry, she wasn't late, but she wanted the exercise. She hadn't had as much free time or energy to devote to working out as she would have liked, and she felt the toll that was taking on her even on that relatively short jog.

Arriving at the bus stop, more winded than she found acceptable, she resolved that she'd use her lunch to find somewhere to work out. Part of her was against this, reasoning that she barely had any energy as is, and that it wasn't worth the money, as she'd probably be transferred before membership somewhere was worth it, but after daily admittance became pricey. The rest of her quickly shut that part up with memories of what she'd seen happen to those who allowed themselves to become weak. Unnerved, she jogged around the area until others started to show up.

As more people arrived, she started to chat with them. She didn't expect to be around long enough to really become friends with any of them, but it still felt nice to lose herself in idle small talk. Besides, she found trying to figure out the personalities of the different people from the grains of information they shared interesting.

It wasn't long before the bus arrived and people quieted down, thinking about what they had to do that day, maybe talking softly with other people from their department. Maria was thinking about how she could make her position more permanent and stable. She'd been thinking about that just about every day for the past several months. Even so, her best running plan was to get and stay on the good side of as many people as possible. It wasn't working. And the more she thought about it, the more she knew that she had to change tactics, though she didn't know to what.

She arrived at work, still not knowing what to do. "Morning," she muttered to the guard when it was her turn to pass through security. He returned the greeting as she passed through. Once past security, she headed to the elevators and to her floor, where she knew there'd be coffee. But before she could fill her now-empty cup, she heard a familiar voice from behind.  
"Maria, is that you?"  
She turned around and was surprised to see Ryan, a friend of hers from her time in Raccoon City.  
"It is you!" he proclaimed as her scooped her up into a friendly hug, "Long time, no see, huh?" He set her down, examining her, "Wow, life hasn't been treating you well. I haven't seen you looking this bad since, well, the last time I saw you, I guess." He chuckled a little, though it didn't quite reach his eyes. "So how long have you been working here? And are you alright? Because you really don't look well at all."  
Maria filled her cup, sipping it as she answered, "I've been here a few weeks. And I'm fine. Just tired. I've been moving a lot lately, so I've had a hard time getting settled into a routine," she sighed, "Plus, even when I do sleep, it isn't very restful."  
Ryan nodded, knowing that feeling too well, "Why are they moving you around so much? You'd think they'd of given you one of the more stable positions. I mean you WERE our leader..."  
Maria drank some of the coffee before she answered, "Actually, the first few transfers I volunteered for. I was...restless for several months after..." She trailed off, but Ryan knew exactly what she meant. More coffee allowed her to continue, "Anyway, by the time I had calmed down enough to want a chance to settle, they were expecting me to transfer," She sighed, "I've tried talking to just about everyone I can think of, trying to find a place where I can just stay put for a while."  
Ryan shook his head, "You should have let me know that you needed something more permanent. There WAS a position like that open here that you could have filled, but it was taken last week."  
Maria sighed in irritation, "Story of my life, lately." She leaned against the counter, thinking. If Ryan had known about a suitable opening, wasn't it possible that one of her other friends, or acquaintances, could too?  
"But you know what, Ryan?" She said, truly smiling for the first time in months, "That gives me an idea." She filled her cup up one more time, before thanking him and running off.

She practically sprinted down the hallway in excitement. She finally had a plan! 'How should I go about this,' she thought, 'I can't just randomly call them, begging for a job. I have to be more subtle.' She slowed down, realizing that this wasn't going to a quick deal. 'I'm going to need to think about this a little.'

When she arrived at her "office", really just a desk shoved into one of the larger record rooms, she grabbed the clipboard containing the list of her daily tasks. As usual, it consisted mainly of grunt work that people deemed important were too "busy" to do. Most days, she didn't mind it, simply grateful to have a job. But today, with her new plan in mind, it infuriated her. She had been a straight A student throughout her entire scholastic career, graduating with honors from both high school and college. She was a trained and experienced paralegal, and a damn good one. That's why Umbrella had hired her, all the way back in 1993. Now, here she was, languishing away in some back room. She let this indignation fuel her through her daily tasks, her mind miles away, figuring out how best to approach each of the people she knew.

Her newfound inspiration drove her to complete her tasks in record time. By the time lunch rolled around, she was done with all but the most unimportant of tasks. She was even able to find a gym, like she had promised herself, without even significantly cutting into her lunch. Thoughts of all the people she knew and how best to approach them flowed through her head as she headed towards the cafeteria. Until now, she hadn't realized how much she had missed the feeling of plans coming together and pieces falling into place. It had been a common feeling in her former life. Whether it had been making plans for her Zombie Hunters' Association, or finding the perfect fact for a case, it had been an almost daily high. But this had been the first time in six months that she had felt it. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts and that feeling that she barely paid attention as she got her food and sat down.

"Hey, Maria," Ryan said as he sat down.  
Maria almost jumped out of her chair in surprise.  
"Whoa! Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you there," Ryan said, his voice a little concerned.  
In her mind, Maria cursed herself for not paying more attention to her surroundings. Out loud, she said, "It's not your fault, Ryan. I was completely spaced out."  
The worry on Ryan's face deepened, "You sure you're okay? You practically sprinted out of the break room."  
"Yeah. I just had an idea." She explained her to Ryan.  
"I'm just surprised that it took you this long to think of that. That's pretty straightforward as far as your plans go."  
She sighed, "I know. I probably would have if I hadn't been so damn paranoid in the first couple months after... But by the time I came off of that, I was so worn out that I was pretty much just beating my head against the wall." Anger flashed across her face, "The mindless grunt work they've been giving me didn't help that!" The anger gave way to a far-off look.  
"Between my inability to solve the most basic of problems and the state I've let myself fall into physically, I don't think I'd be able to survive if it happened again."  
"What are you talking about? You're a fighter, a survivor. Of COURSE you would."  
"Would I?"  
The both sat quietly for a time, before Maria spoke, "Do you think it COULD ever happen again?"  
Ryan was stunned for a moment. "No. Never," he said, trying to reassure himself as much as her, "It could never happen again."  
"How do you know?" she said, barely above a whisper. Ryan looked at her, confused. "How do you know?" she demanded, growing increasingly agitated, "How do you know that it couldn't happen again?" She quickly stood up and slammed her hands on the table, "It happened once, why couldn't it happen again? So How. Do. You. KNOW?" Her breath came in short, quick bursts. As it returned to normal, the anger drained from her face. She sat back down, avoiding meeting his eyes.  
"I'm sorry," she whispered, "You didn't deserve that."  
The sat in silence for a bit, before Ryan spoke, "You ever wonder why we still work for them?"  
Maria laughed humorlessly, "I wonder why YOU still work for them. I didn't have a choice." Another humorless laugh, "Well, there's always a choice. I just didn't have any BETTER choices. Why DID you stay? Why didn't you freelance with Jenny or Connor? Or on your own, even? Why didn't you go back to your family in Kansas?"  
He shrugged, "Same reason most of us did: Shock. We were so dazed in the immediate aftermath that we snapped up ANY offer of stability because it seemed like a blessing. Even Jenny and Connor took pretty much the first job offered them. We all just wanted some normalcy, some SANITY, after all the chaos."  
The end of lunch bell sounded before Maria could respond. They both stood up, grabbed their trays and turned to leave automatically. Before they got too far apart, Ryan turned to call out to her, "Hey, Maria!" She stopped and turned around. "Keep in touch. I don't want to go another six months without hearing from you, okay?" She smiled tiredly and nodded, "Okay." He returned the same run down smile and they parted ways.

Her conversation with Ryan left her drained. But more than that, it had brought up the memories she had been trying to forget for the past six months. It wasn't the memories of the monsters. Not at all. They had frightened her at the time, of course. They were bio-weapons designed to kill people with much more training and experience than she and her team had. And, on occasion, they did haunt her dreams, but the existence of the monsters was just so surreal, it seemed like a game, or a movie. No, what had really stuck with her were the details that games and movies couldn't accurately convey. A shredded, bloodstained teddy bear next to a suspiciously small lump. Picking her way through a corpse-ridden street, watching for reanimation, but trying to avoiding looking for faces she knew. The thick, indescribable smell of burning flesh and hair of a car crash victim, and the pained screams of a would-be rescuer being attacked by the monster that had caused the crash. The constant, inescapable moans of the undead and dying, mingled with noises of the various B.O.W.s roaming the city and the terrified howls of the unwary or unlucky. These, and a thousand other, details and moments swirled around in her head as she walked back to her "office".

Before she arrived at her desk, her mind had cleared enough for her to focus on the task at hand. By now, banishing unwanted memories was almost second nature, though she knew that tonight her sleep would be particularly restless. She didn't focus on that, choosing to pour her energy into her project, starting by e-mailing all of her friends and acquaintances with e-mail addresses, which was almost all of them. Most of them worked for Umbrella, so it was easy for Maria to hunt down a lot of the e-mail addresses that she didn't have. After her flood of e-mails, each customized specifically for its recipient, was sent out, she set to work taking notes for the phone calls she would make later. When she finished, she sat back in her chair, thoroughly exhausted. She took the opportunity to rest and closed her eyes. She hadn't had reason to focus that intensely on anything in a while and had forgotten how much it could take out of her. She didn't get to rest for very long, though, as almost immediately her computer beeped, signaling the end of the day. She gathered her things and left.

The ride back to the employee quarters was one of the first truly pleasant times she had had in a long time. Today, she actually enjoyed the small talk with her coworkers, instead of it merely being a distraction. The 15 minute drive seemed to take no time at all, and she was almost disappointed when it was over. Instead of heading straight back to her apartment, like normal, she lingered to talk to a coworker with whom she shared an interest for a little bit.

Once back in her room, she set to calling the few people that she didn't have e-mail addresses for. Even though she spent several minutes on each one, it barely took half an hour to finish the handful of phone calls she had to make. As she sat at her little desk, the apartment deathly silent, she realized just how alone she had become. For the past six months, she had barely spoken to people that she had previously interacted with daily. She hadn't even gone anywhere besides work in at least two months. It was growing on her just what she had let her life become.

Slowly, she gazed around her room, trying to gauge just how far she'd fallen. Her unmade bed was the first thing that caught her eye. How had she forgotten to make it? She'd made her bed every morning since grade school. But no... It hadn't been made when she went to sleep last night. Or the night before. Next to the bed were two piles of clothes. She knew one pile was clean and one was dirty, but couldn't remember which was which for the life of her. Her gaze turned to her closet, where her clothes should have been. A cork board with a large map of the city dominated it. There were pins of several colors in it, most of which were attached by a string to newspaper clipping or other scraps of paper, tracking incidents that could be signs of another outbreak. This was the project that had dominated her time lately. To the right, between the closet and the bed, sat her Emergency Bag and weapons, the same ones that had kept her alive through Raccoon City. At that moment, she felt such hate for that bag that she couldn't even stay in the same room as it.

She was out of the building and down the street before she even noticed that she had left. She slowed her frantic pace to a stop, not entirely sure where she was going. Her hand hurt, and she realized that she was clenching a piece of paper. It was the map to the gym that she had printed out earlier. 'That's a good idea,' she thought, 'I bet some exercise will clear my mind. Or at wear me out past the point of thought.' She uncrumbled the paper to see where she needed to go.

When she returned home, she already knew that she had overdone it. She had forced herself to go through her old routine, despite having not exercised to a significant degree for a stress-filled, sleep-deprived half a year. What she had once done with relative ease now caused every muscle she had to feel like it was on fire. All she wanted to do was collapse on her bed and never move again. Remembering the state of her room, she made herself put it into a semblance of order before allowing herself to start on her nighttime routine. She purposefully left out going through the day's newspapers, though, glaring at the board instead. Once she let herself rest, she was asleep almost instantly.


	3. Chapter 2: Blame

It was dark. Abandon cars, and the occasional fire, were scattered about. Maria crept through the deserted streets, keeping low and to the shadows. Her hands held the familiar weight of her .45 revolver, a going-away present from her parents. She froze, her back to a car, as a zombie wandered too close, praying she wouldn't have to use it. It lingered for a moment before leaving, drawn by a not too far off noise. She exhaled slightly and dashed across the street, to a door. Knocking out a code, she entered.

Inside, she was met by a dozen faces, eager for news. She shook her head, "That way's a no-go. Too many wrecks to drive, too many creatures to walk." A collective sigh of disappointment.  
"Any word from Jenny and Ryan's group?" She heads over to a haggard-looking man pouring over a map on a low table. He adds another X to the map before responding,  
"Yeah. They're holding at the barricade here." He points to one of the few exists of the city. It's the closest, but still several blocks past the fresh X. "They can hold until dawn, but they can't wait for us much longer."  
Maria shakes her head, more vehemently, "We'll just have to take a less direct route. There's no way we could sneak more than two people through that mess, if that. And we just can't take another fight." Accepting a warm, half-empty bottle of water, she sat down across from him. "I take it everyone who's coming back is back?"  
He nods, "Probably. No contact from the only team not back. And last check-in time was…" He looked at his watch, "Thirty-five minutes ago."  
She signed, taking a sip of the water, "Who was it?'  
He didn't meet her eyes, "Kate and Zack."  
She leapt over the table, tackling the larger man to the floor, "Connor, you bastard!" She was yelling, as loud as she dared in the circumstances, "You let those two go out there on their own?!" Grabbing his collar, she slammed his head into the ground, "How could you? They're barely more than children!" She punched him square in the face, tears threatening to spill from her eyes for the first time since this mess had started. She raised her arm back to hit him again, but a pair of arms grabbed her from behind, pulling her off of him.

She struggled fiercely to escape, but her slight, 5 foot nothing frame was no match for the wall of muscle restraining her. "Maria, get a hold of yourself," Connor said, picking himself up off the floor. Only more inarticulate rage came from her. He walked over to her and shook her gently, "Come on, girl. If any of us going to get out of this, we need that mind of yours." In respond, she snapped at him, almost managing to bite his arm. A look of anger overtook his previously calm face. "That's enough!" He growled, and slapped her hard across the face. Immediately, the fire drained from her eyes and her thrashing stopped. Connor nodded to the man holding her now-limp form, "You can set her down now, Rick. I think she'll be okay now." Rick lowered Maria into a sitting position. "Derek, Rick, take everyone else into the next room," he whispered, "They shouldn't have seen that, and they don't need to see any more." Another, thinner man stepped out of the crowd at his name. He and Rick herded the others into on adjacent room and closed the door.

Kneeling next to her, Connor put his hands on her shoulders and shook her again, more roughly this time. "Felicity Maria Winchester, you snap out of it this instant," he commanded. Maria's eyes regained some of their life, and lock onto Connor's.  
"Don't call me that. Never call me that," she said, the fight coming back to her voice.  
Connor smirked, knowing that would get a response, "That's better. Listen, we've just got a few more blocks to go, and we meet up with Ryan, Jenny and the rest. Just a few more, and we're out of this hell hole."  
Maria nods, returning to her former self, "Yeah, yeah. I know." Her voice quiets, "Why did you send them?"  
Connor sighs, reluctant to continue this topic, "The same reason we sent you: they're small and fast. Besides, the wanted to go." He smiled slightly, though not happily, "And when has anything ever stopped them from doing something that they've wanted to do?"  
This made Maria laugh a little, "You got that right."

Standing up, she shakes herself off and gets back down to business, "Alright, so what did everyone else learn?"  
"Only whatever anyone sent back during check-ins," Connor replied, shaking his head, "I was waiting for you to get back before going over much." Walking over to the door, he calls through it, "Derek, Tara, Lewis, Hope, we're ready for your reports. Rick, go up a level and see what's on the streets. Everyone else, take a nap or something. You'll need your energy once we're on the move again."  
Over by the table, Maria had righted everything, "Okay, so who saw what, where?"

***

The next half hour consisted of obsessing over the map, with each of the "scouts" recounting in excruciating detail what they had seen, where and when. "Okay," Maria said at last, "It looks like we've got a good idea of what can expect to see. Or at least the best idea we're getting without actually going out there." Her eyes lit up, a plan forming in her mind. "Derek, go relieve Rick. He's got a decent knowledge of this area, so tell him I want to see him. The rest of you, go get everything gathered up. I want everyone ready to move on my signal." Four Yes, Ma'am's sounded, and they scurried off to do their assigned duties.

As the left, Maria turned her eyes to Connor, all traces of warmth gone from them. For a moment, he thought she might attack him again. "Tell me where you last knew they were."  
He let out a breath, preparing for the coming storm, "What do you want to know that for?"  
She narrowed her eyes, glaring, "You know why."  
Crossing his arms, he meets her glare with his own, "No. I'm not letting you go out on a suicide mission."  
"Let me? Who do you think you are? My dad?"  
"No, but I am your second-in-command on this, and I promised Ryan and Jenny that I'd stop you from doing anything crazy."  
"And I promised Jeff that I'd get his kids out of the city."  
Connor's shoulders slump. "Fine," he conceded. Motioning to a small line on the map parallel to Maria's own route, he traces the kids' path,  
"They left about 15 minutes after you and headed down this side street. Rick said it was basically an alley, so we figured it might be less blocked. At the first check-in time, they were only a couple blocks away, but reporting a more or less clear road. By second check-in, though, they'd covered several more blocks, were a little over half way to there. At third check-in, they reported an impassible wreck a couple blocks from the barricade, here. Against my advice, they said that they were going to go down this diagonal-ish road here, and try to meet up with you on the way back. I haven't heard from them since."  
Maria's eyes widened. "Wait. When did they call in to say that?"  
"Shortly after you called in for third check-in. Why?"  
"I...saw something go down that way. I don't know what it was, but it was big and didn't look too friendly." She bolted up, turning towards the door. "I have to go find them!"  
With surprising speed, Connor's hand shot out to grab her wrist. "Have you lost all semblance of sanity? We don't have time to wait here while you get yourself killed looking for people who are probably already dead."  
"Then don't wait," Maria replied icily, jerking her hand away.  
"Fine!" Connor said angrily, throwing his hand up in frustration, "But don't forget that you have an obligation to the people here, too."  
Doubt flickered across Maria's face."F...fine," she said, faltering for the first time, "I'll stay and help you plan out another route. But then I have to try and find them. I have to know for sure."  
Connor looked like he was about to say something, but stopped as Rick walked in.  
"Derek said you wanted to talk to me?"  
"Correct," Maria said, smiling and ushering Rick towards the table, "You know this particular area the best, so I figured you could help us figure out the best way to get to the barricade."  
"Yeah, I guess I could. Most of the larger roads are completely blocked, but if we backtrack a little, I know a few lesser-known routes that may be fairly clear."

***

"Well," Maria said, standing up from the table, "That sounds like one of the better plans I've heard since this mess started. Rick, go get Derek. The two of you get the others ready to move, but don't bring them out until I signal. Connor and I have some things we need to discuss." Rick looked hesitant, but moved off. As soon as she was sure he was gone, Maria picked up her backpack, stuffing a few of the less empty water bottles into it. She shrugged into the straps, adjusting it to be snug against her. All the while, Connor glared at her, arms crossed and severe disapproval written on his face.  
"You know this is suicide, right? Literal suicide. If you go out there like this, you might as well put a gun to your head right now."  
"That's where you're wrong. It's a gamble. One I have to make."  
"They're dead. You know that as well as I do. We've both seen what these things can do."  
"No. You don't KNOW. You assumed. And assumptions don't cut it for me."  
Connor was about to respond, but Maria cut him off, "Thanks for worrying about me. But I'll be fine. I've marked the routes you guys will probably take on my map, and I've got my radio in case the plans change. Take care of them until I get back, okay, Connor? I'm counting on you."  
"Yeah, whatever," he said, resigned to his defeat.  
"No, really." She put her hand on his arm, smiling slightly, "I wouldn't leave them in your care if I didn't think you could bring them through. You take care."  
Connor inclined his head, realizing what she was doing. He had a trace of a smile as he said, "You, too. 'Kid'."  
With a exaggerated eye roll, she turned to leave, satisfied that their last exchange wouldn't be a fight.

***

The narrower street was completely deserted and almost silent, putting Maria even more on edge. This was not right. She strained to hear or see any sign of where danger may be lurking. She saw only still corpses and heard only far-distant sounds. It only added to her unease as she hurried down the alley as quickly as she could without making too much sound. As she turned into the alley that the two had gone down, she was hit by the nauseating scent of fresh gore. But that was nothing compared to the hulking figure that now stood before her, its back turned. She clasped her hands to her mouth to stifle a scream of horror, dropping her gun. It clattered to the ground, alerting the monster. Seeing it start to turn around, she quickly dove into what had been the entryway into the nearest building. Carefully, she turned around to look out into the alley, still lying on the ground. It lumbered into view, jerking from side to side, looking for the source of the noise. She froze in fear, cursing her clumsiness, but thankful for the shadows and her foresight to wear dark clothes. After what seemed like hours, it finally moved on, growling in apparent frustration. As its thudding footsteps faded from earshot, she let out a sigh of relief, slowing getting to her feet, listening intently. Hearing nothing, she brushed herself off and moved to retrieve her gun. As she stood up again, turning toward where the monster had been standing, she almost dropped it again. "Oh, no," she said in a whisper, as she saw the broken bodies of the two former star athletes. The once outgoing Kate now lay still, no doubt having tried to protect the more reserved Zack one final time. Seeing him move slightly, Maria holstered her gun and rushed over to him.  
"Shhhhhh," she whispered as she took his head in her arms.  
"Maria?" he asked weakly, eyes fluttering open slightly.  
"Yeah. It's me."  
"Where's Kate?"  
"Don't worry. She safe now."  
"Can I see her?"  
"Not right now, but soon. Just rest."  
"Oh. Okay. Will you stay for a bit?"  
"Of course."  
She kept her voice even, soothing, but couldn't stop the tears from welling up in her eyes.


End file.
